Forum rules
There are no such things as "stupid" questions. However if you think your question is a bit stupid, then this is the right place for you to post it. Please stick to easy to-the-point questions that you feel people can answer fast. For long and complicated questions prefer the other forums within the support section.Before you post please read how to get help

The title says it all, most of the time MintUpdate only shows updates after I refreshed the package-list in Synaptic (If I want to install some programs I first update the Synaptic packagelist). Is this normal behavior?

It seems that when I use mintUpdate and click "refresh," wait a few seconds, and then refresh it again, I am presented with new updates if they are available. It is just a little quirk that several people have mentioned in a few threads. If you want to read them, they are easily searched.

After reading your post, I just tried the Synaptic reload and then opening mintUpdate, but it did not do anything differently on my end. I guess the double-refresh works for my system.

I have not needed to use Synaptic yet since all of the programs I need have been available in the Mint Software Portal. I reloaded Synaptic anyway, just for fun. Perhaps someone else has some new info to share.